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-   -   the whole moving thing!! (https://britishexpats.com/forum/new-zealand-83/whole-moving-thing-640971/)

kiwiwoodpecker Nov 17th 2009 4:16 pm

the whole moving thing!!
 
hello all once again,
Its been a long time since i was last on the site and quite a lot of things have changed in our lives.We have finally decided to GO FOR IT and make the move to nz in March 2010. It has been talked about for years and then over the last year everything has dropped into place.
I got offered a job in christchurch last march and after a lot of thinking, set the ball in motoin in august. We have now all had medicals,house is sold, and are waiting for our visas to come back:fingerscrossed:
All this is GOOD news but both me and OH are going through all sorts of emotions at the moment and it is going to get worse the closer we get to coming out.

Firstly there is the leaving the family behind. I dont hink we will ever be prepared for the full impact of this, but with the help of the internet we will hopefully minimise this a little,as well as visits from them.

Second there is the moving everything. We have had qoutes from 3 companies (PSS,Anglo pacific,pickfords) and they all qoute roughly the same which makes the job of choosing so difficult. They have all been recommended at some point in one thread or another on this site.As well as this there is the big decision of what to take and what to leave behind.

Finally there is what life will be like for the first few months in nz. We have 2 kids to settle in to a new life,school and friends as well as sort ourselves out with a house,car and meet new people.

This is part of the whole new adventure of emmigrating i know but it seems very daunting at times. We are doing this to improve our whole way of life for us as a family and our kids which i am sure it will.

If anybody can offer us there experiences of moving and the initial first months in nz it would be apprciated. Also of amyone is going through the emmigrating experience at the moment, and even better is moving to christchurch and would like to share there experiences it would be good to chat.
cheers
paul

concretepump Nov 17th 2009 5:37 pm

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 

Originally Posted by kiwiwoodpecker (Post 8105086)
hello all once again,
Its been a long time since i was last on the site and quite a lot of things have changed in our lives.We have finally decided to GO FOR IT and make the move to nz in March 2010. It has been talked about for years and then over the last year everything has dropped into place.
I got offered a job in christchurch last march and after a lot of thinking, set the ball in motoin in august. We have now all had medicals,house is sold, and are waiting for our visas to come back:fingerscrossed:
All this is GOOD news but both me and OH are going through all sorts of emotions at the moment and it is going to get worse the closer we get to coming out.

Firstly there is the leaving the family behind. I dont hink we will ever be prepared for the full impact of this, but with the help of the internet we will hopefully minimise this a little,as well as visits from them.

Second there is the moving everything. We have had qoutes from 3 companies (PSS,Anglo pacific,pickfords) and they all qoute roughly the same which makes the job of choosing so difficult. They have all been recommended at some point in one thread or another on this site.As well as this there is the big decision of what to take and what to leave behind.

Finally there is what life will be like for the first few months in nz. We have 2 kids to settle in to a new life,school and friends as well as sort ourselves out with a house,car and meet new people.

This is part of the whole new adventure of emmigrating i know but it seems very daunting at times. We are doing this to improve our whole way of life for us as a family and our kids which i am sure it will.

If anybody can offer us there experiences of moving and the initial first months in nz it would be apprciated. Also of amyone is going through the emmigrating experience at the moment, and even better is moving to christchurch and would like to share there experiences it would be good to chat.
cheers
paul

leave cars behind unless they are rare, there are loads of cheap cars to get you started, if money is tight take all your white goods, look on trademe to compare prices you can buy a five piece bedroom suite for about $2,000
you can buy plugs in the diy store just remember they are not earthed like uk
clean any garden tools with power washer and jeyesfuild custom like the scent of that,
you can look for most things on line, like rentals ect one way car hire
we landed at auckland hired a car for four days but we had to stay in auckland for one day to wait for our cats, so went off to car auction and brought a toyota 4x4 for $8500, took hire car back dident get any refundthen drove to tauranga next day hope some of this helps:thumbsup:

teebrown Nov 17th 2009 5:47 pm

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 
Hi, where in Christchurch are you heading for? We moved out in March, our furniture went 10 weeks before us and was waiting for us when we got here, it was easier to borrow off friends and let the furniture go earlier. The first week of NZ was a complete whirl wind, we managed to buy a car (Moorehouse Ave is the place to head for, the whole street is full of cars), rented a house, we did need a reference when renting, so bring some sort of reference with you, signed the kids into school, make sure you have their red immune books with you, IRD number was the first thing on the list to do, make sure you take proof of address in NZ with you, drivers lic is just a case of sign for form, photo and copy of your UK one. Both the IRD and drivers Lic can be done at the AA Centre, have a look on line to find one.

The kids settled into school very very easily and had 'best friends' by the end of week one. My advice to settling in easier is go out and make an effort to speak to people at the school gates, at the local pub etc, i talk to people just gardening in the area, even knocked on the neighbors door to say hello. After 8 months, we have some fantastic friends and our social life is busier an ever.

I wish you all the very best.

Cadibel Nov 17th 2009 6:21 pm

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 
Hi Paul,

We're in the final stages of emigrating - fly out on Jan 12th to Auckland. Re the family thing - I started a thread about this a while back and had loads of replies, which did help. However, ultimately, just expect it to be bad. And I mean BAD:(

I found it helpful to explain how important this was for me, and how if we didn't go because of family, we would probably resent them for this - harsh I know but it is the truth and did seem to help them 'accept' our dream, although they are still far from happy about it!

Good luck with that :fingerscrossed:- have you told them about your plans at all?

Fooferfish Nov 17th 2009 7:27 pm

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 
We have been here in NZ for over 4 1/2 years, the first 2 years seem to be the toughest !! settling in process, meeting new people, in the first few months you tend to meet with Brits, then after some time you gain a few Kiwis and so on, alos depends on why and what you came here for !!

Your kids will adapt and once they have met a few friends at school theyll be away, then the network grows, try to get out and see as many new places around your new home area as possible, if your landing in March then youll be coming into Autumn time, so make sure you get a rental thats got sun and good heating, as being in a cold house when you first arrive will put a downer on things, make sure you have a back up ammount of $$$ for heating, firewood ect take time to buy a house if youre going to.

Missing the family is a tough one and no one can tell you how its going to be, one thing is youre doing some thing that alot of others want to do, moving your whole life and comfort zone is tough, but well worth the challenge, you have the phone, internet ect, yes granted not the same as a hug , also depends on how close you are as a family unit. You have also got to ask yourself " why you are doing this ? " like the most of , you must crave adventure and a desire to change the next part of your lives, see something new, live some where else, meet new friends, its a bloody roller coaster in thopse first few years , but once you get used to the ride, its bloody wicked.

I think of life as a record playing music " whilst the music is playing , we should dance to it , because once its stopped it game over !"

Just find plenty do do with yourselves as it makes time go by quicker and you wont dwell on things to much.

NZ rocks.

kiwiwoodpecker Nov 17th 2009 7:38 pm

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 
thanks for all the good advice.
concretepump thanks for tips on plugs.
teebrown we are heading for the somerfield,beckenham,hallswell area as i will be working in woolston and will try to use a bike to get to work, and we are also sending furniture out 6-8weeks early. thanks for tips on paperwork you need (what sort of references do they need for renting?) and for rest of good advice.
cadibel both me and fiona have told our families of the impending move.both parents are ok with it all but our sisters are putting on a brave face and not liking it really, this will be the hardest thing to leave them behind!
good luck on your move.we are hopefully flying out to chch in march.
cheers fooferfish you have made me smile.we have asked ourselves many times why we are doing this and all of the above apply.
very wise words thank you.

george toni Nov 18th 2009 2:04 am

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 
Hi Paul

one thing we did when we got here for the girls was to put aside $1k each for them to spend/do whatever they wanted with.One bought a west highland terrier puppy (which she still has) the other spent on clothes and all sorts of things.We had no strings to the money it was theres to spend on whatever they wanted.

Im not saying for one min that this will help with homesickness or alike but it was our way of saying welcome to your new country thankyou for what you have given up and love you lots.

all the best and second what foofer says make sure the house you rent is warm!

george

Jan n Neil Nov 18th 2009 3:31 am

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 
That,s an exellent idea for the kids :thumbup:

Neil

Justcol Nov 18th 2009 4:44 am

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 
DO NOT accept the moving quotes they have offered.
Now you start to call each one and play them off against each other.
Tell them you like the service they offer but someone else has given a better price.
if they ask how much better dont tell them, just say you feel it would be unfair
to that company to give away their pricing. do this to all the companies and watch the prices fall.
we saved hundreds of pounds and got an upgrade to the best insurabce package
our movers could offer for the cost of their basic package.

The kids will be fine, they are very adaptable.

RobDon Nov 18th 2009 5:43 am

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 

Originally Posted by colandros (Post 8106431)
DO NOT accept the moving quotes they have offered.
Now you start to call each one and play them off against each other.
Tell them you like the service they offer but someone else has given a better price.
if they ask how much better dont tell them, just say you feel it would be unfair
to that company to give away their pricing. do this to all the companies and watch the prices fall.
we saved hundreds of pounds and got an upgrade to the best insurabce package
our movers could offer for the cost of their basic package.

The kids will be fine, they are very adaptable.

Ditto the above! :thumbup:
All the companies we got quotes from matched our cheapest one so be prepared to haggle! ;)

teebrown Nov 18th 2009 7:29 am

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 

Originally Posted by kiwiwoodpecker (Post 8105503)
thanks for all the good advice.
concretepump thanks for tips on plugs.
teebrown we are heading for the somerfield,beckenham,hallswell area as i will be working in woolston and will try to use a bike to get to work, and we are also sending furniture out 6-8weeks early. thanks for tips on paperwork you need (what sort of references do they need for renting?) and for rest of good advice.
cadibel both me and fiona have told our families of the impending move.both parents are ok with it all but our sisters are putting on a brave face and not liking it really, this will be the hardest thing to leave them behind!
good luck on your move.we are hopefully flying out to chch in march.
cheers fooferfish you have made me smile.we have asked ourselves many times why we are doing this and all of the above apply.
very wise words thank you.

We actually rented out our own house, so we cheated abit and got my Sister to write the reference as if we were the ones renting it, they never checked, but if you have a letter from your employers, that may help to say you are in employment and reliable. Also bring along photocopies of all your documents and several of your passport, everyone seems to want a copy. We also arranged for a sim card for our mobiles to be sent to us in UK before we left, so we could pass our number to everyone before we left, it was just a pay as you go from http://www.phonequip.co.nz/ they were really good and sent the sim within a couple of days. Also when you arrive in UK, get a phone card which allows you to phone UK really cheaply, we got one from the warehouse, they are at the checkouts, you pay about $20 and all you have to do is input a code before you phone UK and it only costs us 1.5 cents a Min, very very cheap, we still use ours now.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

kiwiwoodpecker Nov 18th 2009 8:18 pm

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 

Originally Posted by teebrown (Post 8106826)
We actually rented out our own house, so we cheated abit and got my Sister to write the reference as if we were the ones renting it, they never checked, but if you have a letter from your employers, that may help to say you are in employment and reliable. Also bring along photocopies of all your documents and several of your passport, everyone seems to want a copy. We also arranged for a sim card for our mobiles to be sent to us in UK before we left, so we could pass our number to everyone before we left, it was just a pay as you go from http://www.phonequip.co.nz/ they were really good and sent the sim within a couple of days. Also when you arrive in UK, get a phone card which allows you to phone UK really cheaply, we got one from the warehouse, they are at the checkouts, you pay about $20 and all you have to do is input a code before you phone UK and it only costs us 1.5 cents a Min, very very cheap, we still use ours now.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

thanks for that i would never of thought about getting a phone sorted before going out to nz.

SHAZMARK Nov 18th 2009 9:48 pm

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 
Hi there

We are in the same situation as you are! Moving from Lancashire to Christchurch; Hopefully we will be there in February 2010.

We now have visas, house sale is going through as we speak and yes we have all the same emotions like you have.....scary!!!!

We have 2 girls aged 7 and 11, Sharon will be working for nurse maude and I will be looking for a job as a parent educator once we get there.

We have just got to ship our gear, sell the cars and then find a place to rent once we get there.

If I can help with anything pm me ,.

Good luck

Mark

princey Nov 19th 2009 6:47 am

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 

Originally Posted by kiwiwoodpecker (Post 8105086)
hello all once again,
Its been a long time since i was last on the site and quite a lot of things have changed in our lives.We have finally decided to GO FOR IT and make the move to nz in March 2010. It has been talked about for years and then over the last year everything has dropped into place.
I got offered a job in christchurch last march and after a lot of thinking, set the ball in motoin in august. We have now all had medicals,house is sold, and are waiting for our visas to come back:fingerscrossed:
All this is GOOD news but both me and OH are going through all sorts of emotions at the moment and it is going to get worse the closer we get to coming out.

Firstly there is the leaving the family behind. I dont hink we will ever be prepared for the full impact of this, but with the help of the internet we will hopefully minimise this a little,as well as visits from them.

Second there is the moving everything. We have had qoutes from 3 companies (PSS,Anglo pacific,pickfords) and they all qoute roughly the same which makes the job of choosing so difficult. They have all been recommended at some point in one thread or another on this site.As well as this there is the big decision of what to take and what to leave behind.

Finally there is what life will be like for the first few months in nz. We have 2 kids to settle in to a new life,school and friends as well as sort ourselves out with a house,car and meet new people.

This is part of the whole new adventure of emmigrating i know but it seems very daunting at times. We are doing this to improve our whole way of life for us as a family and our kids which i am sure it will.

If anybody can offer us there experiences of moving and the initial first months in nz it would be apprciated. Also of amyone is going through the emmigrating experience at the moment, and even better is moving to christchurch and would like to share there experiences it would be good to chat.
cheers
paul

Hi

I moved 2 months ago from London to Rolleston just outside of Christchurch.I used a company named Bonners International and found them pretty good but not sure if they have branches at your neck of the woods.Remember to get all the insurance,itinary and declaration documents signed and keep asking about that because me and my fiancee both had to fax and email documents from NZ that were not given to us from the office and pick up removal men, just a tip, and remember to remove batteries and give all your stuff like tools and shoes and bikes a good clean for customs.

I call my family very often using a talk and save phone card too, its great and my family in London use JUST CALL from their BT phone which is 1p per minute phone line to NZ, the number is 0844 8699900 and we use skype and msn which we set up before we left England, it really helps to not feel so far away.

I have found a lot of things easier and quicker to do here like open a bank account, you just need good ID etc and i got my card and cheque book within 3 days.

I guess like everyone we all have stories of our own experiences, i have more if you need to ask.

Good luck

Keith and Tina

kiwiwoodpecker Nov 19th 2009 6:43 pm

Re: the whole moving thing!!
 

Originally Posted by princey (Post 8109467)
Hi

I moved 2 months ago from London to Rolleston just outside of Christchurch.I used a company named Bonners International and found them pretty good but not sure if they have branches at your neck of the woods.Remember to get all the insurance,itinary and declaration documents signed and keep asking about that because me and my fiancee both had to fax and email documents from NZ that were not given to us from the office and pick up removal men, just a tip, and remember to remove batteries and give all your stuff like tools and shoes and bikes a good clean for customs.

I call my family very often using a talk and save phone card too, its great and my family in London use JUST CALL from their BT phone which is 1p per minute phone line to NZ, the number is 0844 8699900 and we use skype and msn which we set up before we left England, it really helps to not feel so far away.

I have found a lot of things easier and quicker to do here like open a bank account, you just need good ID etc and i got my card and cheque book within 3 days.

I guess like everyone we all have stories of our own experiences, i have more if you need to ask.

Good luck

Keith and Tina

thanks for info.:thumbsup:
Is the JUST CALL set up through BT or is it a seperate organisation.?
would it be ok to pm you with some more questions?


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